Community organising or organising community? Exploring the rhetoric and reality of community participation in English urban regeneration policy 1997-2015

This thesis is a critical examination of English social and urban regeneration policy and programme delivery implemented between 1997 and 2015 under New Labour and the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition government. It assesses the extent to which the community empowerment rhetoric of both governments translated into increased opportunities for community-led regeneration and reflected genuine shifts in power from central government to the local and neighbourhood level. The thesis argues that the opportunities have not been fully realised due to systematic failures in acknowledging and supporting the enabling conditions necessary for meaningful community participation and empowerment. This hypothesis is tested using an adapted version of the Institute of Development Studies ‘Place, Space and Power’ framework, interviews conducted with residents and community development practitioners in England and the USA,and by a comprehensive review of policy literature and programme evaluations spanning this period. By doing so, this thesis identifies a top-down-bottom-up dichotomy, whereby government promotes community-led regeneration but continues to control the parameters within which the activity takes place. The impact of which can be disempowerment and disillusionment at the local and community level - ultimately hindering regeneration practice and the achievement of sustainable community development. The influence of American social policy and community development practice on English policy design and rhetoric is strong, with America’s less centralised model of community development cited as an aspirational model. Presenting empirical research conducted with community development stakeholders in England and the USA, this thesis compares and contrasts the government-led community development approach adopted in England with the experiences of community organisations and intermediaries in the USA. By demonstrating a number of findings which would enhance participatory programme design and delivery in England going forwards, this thesis aims to fill a gap in the understanding of what regeneration policy can and should be and contribute to knowledge in the tradition of law and geography, social policy, and in sustainable regeneratio